TRANSAT DES ALIZES - AN INTERVIEW WITH LUCA TRENTINI

Take a fast, competitive yacht, Fibra, the Open 30' designed by German Freers Jr.; take a prestigious brand of watches, Locman; take a skipper from Isola d'Elba, Luca Trentini, and his longtime dream of taking part in the Transat des Alizés: they are bound to be the right ingredients of a great feat. During the Elba Cup Trofeo Locman - where the world's best talents in match-racing challenged one other to the final duel between James Spithill and Magnus Holmberg, who won the race in the end - the Locman Sailing Team was introduced: it is a group of Elba yachtsmen from the Circolo del Mare of Campo nell'Elba enlisted to take up the match-racing specialty. A golden member of the team is Luca Trentini, an offshore lover who has won major competitions such as Roma per Due. He is currently manning his boat for the Transat des Alizés, the sailing race across the Atlantic that will start from Port Camargue and end at St. Barthelemy after about 4,000 miles of ocean sailing with a crew of only three people. We have met him aboard the Fibra, a smile on his face and a Locman watch on his wrist, working hard to make sure everything is set before he leaves for the long dreamed-on regatta.

- How did your love of sailing come about?
When I was a little child I used to spend every summer at the seaside on the Isola d'Elba. Every since then, I have always loved sailing: in fact, I was never happy with just a couple of laps off the shore… I would go off with my Laser or a small catamaran for a whole tour around the island or I would throw myself into "forbidden" feats, such as sailing all the way from the island to the continent. Sailing has always given me a sense of infinity I couldn't find in small spaces surrounded by walls.

- How are you going to prepare both the boat and yourself for the Transat des Alizés?
I've been working to optimize the boat when sailing free - which is a feature of the Transat designed Alizés, a race right across the Atlantic - but I've also been trying to keep high performances when close-hauling, which is going to be the first part of the regatta up to the Canary islands. I've modified the helms and lengthened the bowsprit to leave the prow out of the waves, though I was basically already happy with the boat: it has proved to reach great speed, overtaking bigger boats, especially with little wind. And as far as I'm personally concerned, I'm going to do my training here on the Isola d'Elba together with the crew, cycling and carefully studying the weather so we can choose the best course when at sea.

- Do you have any lucky charms?
I wear this little chain around my neck with a pendant of Sirius, the star that always lights up my races.

- Any plans for the future?
I hope Transat des Alizés will be a sort of diving board for even bigger feats, like perhaps a tour of the world, one day, because my aim is to navigate as much as possible, sailing all the seas of the world and making new experiences.